March Catch All, open

[kiss_it_better]

🧙 WHO: Chang Geng and you
⚔️️ WHAT: Quests and other open stuff
🕒 WHEN: Throughout March
🗺️ WHERE: Around the town
⚠️ WARNINGS: None so far



i: Run Snagglefoot Run

[A thief, though his magic isn't so suited to this he has other skills at his disposal. He pulls out a map from (a magical hammer space) pouch. He pointed at a spot on it after a quick glance.]

We can head him off here and set up an ambush.



ii: Farmer-R-Us

[He'd helped out on a farm or two during his four years travels so this was a little familiar.

At some point, when his sleeves and the heat had gotten to be too much, he'd stripped off the top part of his robes to tie around his waist as he worked on getting the hay into bales.

Though when it came time to casting magic on the hay he'd dressed properly and looked incredibly interested as he watched the hay's colour turn into a clean, golden colour.]

I wonder if this magic can be used on other things?

[Like water, for example.]


iii: some shopping is in order

[At some point, he needed to get more clothes. Ready made fashion isn't something he's used to so he browses a store with interest...though the styles were all a little strange to him.]

Surely not everyone fits into a standard size... [He looks thoughtful as he rubs a bit of fabric between his fingers.] Though I suppose it is easier to modify an outfit than to make one from scratch. [He lets go with a thoughtful sort of sound. Perhaps you're a stranger and maybe he's talking to himself but he does turn to you as if looking for a reply.

But he can also be found later on, in a different store just looking at fabric, asking questions about the ones he doesn't recognize the material of. One such question that might get directed your way is:]

Would this be a good fabric for summer?

Comments

[kiss_it_better]

Healer-in-training.

[Because he isn't that good with healing magic just yet.]

[ladyemperor]

At the very least there's nothing stopping me from calling you "sir", right? [especially in the absence of a name.]

Though you must pardon me for my rudeness. [With that said she clasps her hands and does an elegant court bow to him.]

I am Wu Meiniang.

[kiss_it_better]

Wu Meiniang?

[...wasn't that the name of the woman who would go on to become Empress Wu? Perhaps it's just a coincidence.

His surprise showed only as a brief flicker in his expression lasting no more than a heart beat.

Then he also returned her courtly bow.]

I am Li Min. Miss Wu, if it's not too bold of me to ask, where are you from?

[ladyemperor]

[She tenses when she sees that look of surprise, brief as it might be. He knows her and it's happened often enough that her first thought is that he has also heard of the prophecy.

Especially when he introduces himself as Li Min. Is he a relative of the Emperor? She forces herself to still, to let nothing show on her face.]

I am from the Greater Tang, and my birthplace is in the Wenshui County. And yourself, Mister Li?

[kiss_it_better]

[Greater Tang? Not Great Liang? But Wenshui County...

Perhaps she is from another world, one similar but different from his own.

He sees the change in her expression and the way she holds herself. In response, he smiles gently.]

I grew up in Yanhui Town, a little place near the Northern Border of Great Liang.

[ladyemperor]

[Great Liang? That's a country she isn't familiar with.

The smile, at least, seems kind.]

...Great Liang... of the Central Plains?

[kiss_it_better]

Yes. Is Great Tang also known as the Central Plains?

[ladyemperor]

It is. But I have never heard of a Great Liang.

[kiss_it_better]

Then perhaps the places we come from are not the same, merely similar.

[ladyemperor]

[She can't hide the way she relaxes a little upon hearing that. Merely similar, he says.]

...then why did it seem like you recognized my name?

[kiss_it_better]

[He could lie. But lying didn't seem like the right choice here.

So he doesn't.]

There is a historical figure with a similar name in Great Liang. She also came from the same region as you.

[ladyemperor]

[She isn't sure she wants to know why that figure was considered important enough to be written about. Besides, she knows better than anyone that you can write anything... that doesn't make any of it true.]

...What... did that person do?

[kiss_it_better]

[He turned to her thoughtfully.]

I don't mind telling you. I wouldn't say any of it was particularly bad. [Well, maybe the executions that happened but what emperor's hands were entirely free of blood?] But I do wonder why you seem so concerned over it.

[ladyemperor]

I want to know... what the world looked like under her rule.

[kiss_it_better]

[He thinks there's more to it than just that, that perhaps she had some hang ups about the whole situation.

People who became emperor never had an easy time, least of all the ones who hadn't inherited the throne by normal means.]

She took power from the noble families and instated the imperial exam system, paving the way for those who were not born into the right family to take positions in government through hard work. Though in the time since, the nobility have regained some of their influences but the imperial exam continues to provide a path for others to gain power through their own abilities.

[ladyemperor]

[It's not hard to imagine why she might have done something like that. Even now, Meiniang knows that the court is full of old courtiers who had taken Li Shimin's side when he rebelled, their sons and their families were simply hanging on with little of value to add other than a name.]/small>

I see... an exam that would allow someone to rise above their station and to contribute based on their abilities. She sounds wise.

[Could she be that wise? Did she have the conviction to live like that? This wasn't just killing one horse in order to save a life.]

[kiss_it_better]

She was wise. [Because it was the truth.] She saw a problem in the system and created a solution. Naturally, with such large changes, she certainly also made many enemies.

[ladyemperor]

Enemies... In that regard, she and I are certainly similar.

[Sad as the thought of that is.]